The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love and Wisdom

How do spiritual practices affect the brain? This was the subject of a recent teleseminar I listened to presented by Dr. Rick Hanson, author of “The Buddha’s Brain.”

He begins by speaking about the three pillars of spiritual practice: virtue, mindfulness or concentration, and wisdom. These are found almost universally in contemplative traditions. He also points out they “are at bottom by one name or another at the center of psychotherapy and any path of personal growth or self-actualization……” They also correspond to the 3 fundamental functions of the nervous system: regulation, learning and selection.

Regulation and virtue: recently we can all recall examples of people who cannot restrain themselves and maintain a wholesome balance in their lives. The trick, Dr. Hanson goes on to say, is to maintain that balanced when things around us shift and change.

Learning: mindful attention is the essence of learning. “What’s within the field of awareness, in particular, what’s within the field of conscious focused attention, is turbo charged in terms of formations of neurostructures…..I think of mindfulness as the combination of spotlight and vacuum cleaner-it illuminates what it rests upon and then sucks it into the brain.”

Selecting: your brain and nervous system are always selecting. “Wisdom is really about selecting a better path over a harmful one.”

If we have one, we can look to our own spiritual practice and see that it supports the expansion of virtue through stories and the example of people who practice restraint from unskillful actions; the development of mindfulness and learning through prayer, contemplation and ritual; and wisdom and discernment by giving us a guide for our actions.

One thing I found reassuring about this seminar was Dr. Hanson’s description of mirror neurons. These, in our wonderful brains, have made us “the most social and loving animal on the planet.” These neurons enable us to simulate what it like to be somebody else or to be empathetic. Our brain actually “lights up” on scans when we see people having emotions we recognize. We can “exercise” our brains by becoming aware of the internal sensations of our body through a practice like mindfulness and this will enable us to be more able to recognize the emotions of others. “In other words, the capacity is available to us to deliberately use our mind to change our brain, and our mind for the better….By teaching empathy skills, we do our little bit toward helping the world become a better place…”

IMAGINE……….

Lenore Flynn teaches mindfulness to individuals and groups. New groups are forming in Albany. www.solidgroundny.org